Trump's United States Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad